Democrats pivot on immigration

In a strategy shift on immigration reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Tuesday that Democrats will try to pass a bill legalizing the status of young, undocumented immigrants if they attend college for two years or join the military.

Reid will offer the DREAM Act as an amendment next week to the Defense Department authorization bill – thrusting the thorny, contentious issue of immigration reform back into the spotlight as Democrats struggle to blunt a Republican surge ahead of the November midterm elections.

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“I think it is really important that we move forward on this legislation,” Reid said. “I know we can’t do comprehensive immigration reform. I’ve tried to; I’ve tried so very, very hard. I’ve tried different iterations of this, but those Republicans we had in the last Congress left us.”

The DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants if they were in the United States before age 16, and if they have been residents for five years before enactment of the law. Reid could not say whether he has 60 votes to overcome a filibuster but added, “I sure hope so.”

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats would make the defense authorization bill “needlessly controversial” if they added the DREAM Act.

Democrats need some Republican votes, yet it's unclear if any will step forward. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), a Republican co-sponsor, has not yet indicated whether he supports adding the DREAM Act as an amendment to the defense bill, his spokesman said Tuesday. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a target for Democrats, will not make a decision until he reviews the bill language, his spokesman said.

And Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has co-sponsored the legislation in the past, will not vote for the DREAM Act next week, in part because he doesn't believe it's appropriate to add the measure to a defense bill.

“Senator Hatch doesn’t support cynical political stunts," spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier said in a statement. "This defense bill shouldn’t be held hostage to unrelated measures that have no chance of becoming law. He believes we need to keep working to regain the American people’s trust by securing the borders."

Nevertheless, the political calculation is clear: Democrats want to energize Hispanic voters, who have soured on President Barack Obama for failing to produce an immigration reform bill during his first year in office as promised. Reid has also wagered heavily on Hispanics turning out for him in his tough reelection fight against Sharron Angle, his Tea Party-backed Republican challenger